Anyone want an angle grinder sculpture? Beware idiot about.

[AJB Temple]

I am very careful with my tools. But now and again accidents happen. I am stuck at home for a few weeks at the moment having had an op on my tendons and I have a "labourer" doing some odd jobs for me. Said labourers is the 19 year old son of a near neighbour who is "on a gap year". Yesterday he was mixing some quite sloppy concrete to deal with an old rabbit warren under a shed. He had also been using my 9" angle grinder, which I have had for years, to clean up a couple of large slabs we laid 2 weeks ago.

I heard some activity in the kitchen and just in case a brew was in the offing, I hobbled out of my office to find gap year labourer washing the angle grinder in the sink. I said "didn't your dad tell you that power tools and water are not a great combination?" "Yes, but it's got really dirty and some of it won't come off". 8)

Turns out he had dropped it into a barrow load of concrete, fished it out and left it for an hour or so whilst he finished the rabbit warren job and was now "cleaning the tool". (hammer)

It is knackered of course. I think this will be the first power tool failure I have ever had. As I don't use a big grinder/cutter all that often, I have replaced it with a Triton one from screwfix, which was ordered yesterday and delivered today. £50 for a 9" 2350 watt machine, with magnesium head, rotating handle, soft start , grinding disc included and cutter guard, and a decent carrying case. I can't understand how some tools can be so cheap really.

 

[NazNomad]

Gap year? Pretty sure the only 'gap' was between his ears. :-D

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My 4 1/2" Bosch I paid £70 (sale price :shock: ) 30 years ago. I've still got it, and use it quite often. I doubt the same will be said of the Triton, useful as it is. Having said that I've not let an idiot near it.

 

[Wuffles]

I bought a Parkside 9" grinder for a one-off job about 4 years ago with a couple of discs for about £35. No matter how many idiots get near it, it's still going, it's not been through the dishwasher though. We breed a different kind of idiot round these parts.

 

[bugbear]

Gap year? Pretty sure the only 'gap' was between his ears. :-D

Long ago... (circa 1976)

My father had a local teenager (2 years older than me) helping out during grain harvest.

They were stacking straw, and during a gap between loads, dad smelt ... something.

He turned round to find the guy with a *** in his mouth. On the top of a stack of straw.

My dad went just-a-tad-ballistic.

BugBear

 

[NazNomad]

Doesn't matter what you teach someone, you can never teach them common-sense. :-D

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That's the problem with common sense - it's uncommon.

 

[AJB Temple]

Yep. I have drilled into Sam that he must clean the tools perfectly after use, we have been over and over safe working practices (I even made him wear my chain sawing trousers when doing the grinding on the slabs), but he still does things that to me are simply incredible.

For example. I have been replacing the slats on a couple of old iron benches. About 50 pieces of 60mm iroko and all he had to do is drill bolt holes in each end in a set position with two sizes of drill (large for sunken head, smaller for through shaft). So I showed him this. About half an hour later I checked what he was up to and he was doing each hole with large drill then small drill, one by one. So for each of the ends he was doing a drill change in the chuck. I assumed it was common sense to do the entire natch with one drill and then with the other. Apparently I was wrong - this was not clear.

When I showed him, I lightly clamped each piece in the drill press vice. He thought this was a waste of time until the drill grabbed his hand held six foot slat and whipped it round against his body. Quite an impressive bruise! He is a really nice guy and ever so helpful, but I am quite certain I was not so inept around tools when I was 13, let alone his age.

 

[Wuffles]

I still do stupid things though, my thinking processes are sometimes shot to ribbon and people must look at me and think "why do it that way?"

It's ok though, I have "street smarts".

Sanding savant.

 

[Woodmonkey]

It gets worse as you get older. I spent five minutes today looking for my short spirit level which was in my hand

 

[AJB Temple]

Spirit levels are in fact magic. My short one is magnetic and I swear moves about of its own accord.

 

[RogerS]

It gets worse as you get older. I spent five minutes today looking for my short spirit level which was in my hand

Or my ear defenders slung around my neck.

'Common-sense challenged' is not the exclusive domain of the young. Years ago I (in my teens) was watching the yardman at the local timber merchant sawing down a sheet of 8 x 4 using a circular saw. He was up on top of the 8x4 kneeling his way along the cut as he progressed...one knee each side of the line. 'Surely he's going to get off soon', I thought. Nope. Two thirds of the way along the board split apart, running circular saw thrown into the air, him also. Putting aside the broken board he gets out another one. This time, he's standing at the side of the board and leaning over to make the cut. About half way down, there is a loud bang and a flash as he cuts through the power lead that he'd trapped underneath the board.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I sometimes wonder why there are so many gas board employees. We have old pipes locally and often get leaks in the spring after hard winters. There's one in our road they've never found/fixed (in 15 years).

If I had a quid for every time I've seen them lighting up once they've excavated, it would probably pay for the Kevlar you ought to wear to go out shopping past the hole in the pavement.

 

[mind_the_goat]

He thought this was a waste of time until the drill grabbed his hand held six foot slat and whipped it
round against his body.

Some people learn better by example. You could be doing him a real big favour though, if he's learning that thinking for himself is actually okay, and problem solving is something he can do for himself. Life skills that have maybe been missing from his education to date.

 

[blackrodd]

I've had a few working with me, Highly intelligent but they are dangerous at even crossing the road!
Rodders

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had a friend at school who would eat a slug if you bet he wouldn't. I've seen him eat 4" ones. He read physics at Cambridge.

 

[mind_the_goat]

I had a friend at school who would eat a slug if you bet he wouldn't. I've seen him eat 4" ones. He read physics at Cambridge.

Daily Express Headline
"Scientist Proves Eating Slugs makes You Clever"